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Children Play Every Day when they are Well and Happy 




CUZZORT-TRASK HEALTH SERIES 

A PRIMER OF 
PERSONAL HYGIENE 


„ ;by 

JOHN W. TRASK, M.D. 

SURGEON, UNITED STATES PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE 
IN COLLABORATION WITH 

BELVA CUZZORT, A.M. 


D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 


BOSTON 


NEW YORK 


CHICAGO 


LONDON 


Tl 


CUZZORT-TRASK 
HEALTH SERIES 


Health Lessons 

For pupils under eight 

Primer of Personal Hygiene 

For pupils from eight to ten 

Health and Health Practices 
For pupils over ten 

Essentials of Physiology, Hygiene 
and Sanitation 
For pupils over eleven 


COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY 
D. C. HEATH & CO. 

2 H 3 



SEP 15 *23 


PRINTED IN U. S. A. 

©C1A752918 

-V\C I 




PREFACE 


To the individual there are few things so important as 
health. To the nation there is, perhaps, no one thing more 
to be desired than that the people shall have health and be 
physically fit. Health and physical well being conduce to 
efficiency and accomplishment in work, to greater enjoyment 
of play, to optimism, cheerfulness, and happiness, and to 
honesty and fair dealing. Only nations with healthy citizens 
progress; those with sickly populations retrogress. 

During the last seventy or eighty years the question of the 
health of the community has received throughout the world 
greater consideration than it had for many centuries. In the 
United States the interest in the health of the community 
has grown constantly -greater during the last fifty years. 
During the last ten years there has also been manifested a 
growing interest in physical fitness. 

But what is, perhaps, most important is that we have come 
to understand more clearly the factors on which the health 
and physical fitness of individuals and of communities depend. 
We know the value to communities of good water supplies, 
adequate sewerage systems, parks, and play grounds. We 
have perceived the benefits of an eight-hour working day as 
compared with one of twelve or fourteen hours, and we know 
how important to the individual as regards his health, physical 
fitness, and longevity are his personal habits and his manner 
of living. We understand better what it means as regards 
health and longevity whether one eats suitable food properly 
prepared, whether one eats too much food, or gets too little 
exercise, whether one secures a proper amount of rest, whether 


in 


IV 


PREFACE 


he breathes cool clean air by day and night, whether he pre¬ 
serves his teeth as long as possible by proper care, whether he 
gives the use of his eyes reasonable consideration, and whether 
he exposes himself unnecessarily to infectious diseases. 

Our present better understanding of these matters is due 
largely to the laborious research work of specialists. The 
dissemination of this knowledge will depend upon the activities 
of educational bodies, and especially upon the attitude taken 
by school boards and the cooperation rendered by intelligent 
teachers. 

It is believed that it may be truly said that in the past the 
average man who has owned a horse has given the health and 
physical welfare of his horse far greater consideration than he 
has the health and physical fitness of himself or of his family. 
This should not be so, and let us hope that in thirty years, 
when a new generation shall have grown up, it will not be so. 

To bring about a healthy people, physically fit, one must 
first make the individual desire health and physical fitness, 
then show him how to obtain these wished-for attributes. 
It is difficult to create new desires in adult men and women. 
But with the child it is different. A child grasps an idea 
readily and without reservations. He has no fixed habit of 
life or prejudice which must first be displaced. The younger 
the child the more easily are right habits formed. 

In the child of to-day is our hope for the health and fitness 
of the American people. There is no greater gift we can give 
the child, than the desire to be healthy and physically fit. 
There is nothing we can teach the child that is half so impor¬ 
tant to him as correct habits of living that will make him 
healthier, happier, long lived, a better parent, and a more 
efficient citizen. Healthy and physically fit, he will grasp 
more readily his grammar, arithmetic, and geography; he 
will benefit more by his high school or college course; and will 
live a more useful life. 


PREFACE 


v 


The purpose of this little book is to instil into the minds of 
young children a desire to be healthy, clean, and strong, to 
teach them the simpler and more fundamental things relating 
to personal hygiene, and to establish at an early age habits 
of right living, health habits which will be theirs as long as 
they live, habits which will make their lives longer, happier, 
and more useful. 

Thanks are due Mr. and Mrs. E. C. Crittenden of Wash¬ 
ington, D. C., for permission to use photographs of their 
daughter Marjorie and for their kind services in securing these. 


John W. Trask 












CONTENTS 


LESSON PAGE 

I. Our Bodies in Which We Live. i 

II. Why We Want Good Bodies. 4 

III. The Best Kind of a Body to Have. 7 

IV. Work and Play Make our Bodies Strong. . . 9 

V. The Care of Our Bodies. 11 

VI. The Food We Eat. 14 

VII. Why We Should Take Good Care of our Teeth. 18 

VIII. Our Eyes, the Windows of our Bodies ... 22 

IX. The Air We Breathe: Why We Need Good 

Lungs . 25 

X. We Should Keep our Bodies Clean. 28 

XI. Why We Sleep. 31 

XII. Why We Should Be Careful How We Stand and 

Sit. 33 

XIII. How We Get Some Diseases. 37 

XIV. Coughs and Colds. 39 

XV. Things We Should not Put into our Mouths . 42 

XVI. Why We Should not Drink from Cups and 

Glasses Others Have Used. 44 

XVII. Good Bodies Help us to be Happy. 46 

XVIII. What We Must Do to Have Good Body- 

Machines . 4S 

Health Stories 

The Vacation of the King of Foods .... 51 

What the Garden Earth said to Frank . . 57 

vii 












































PRIMER OF 
PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Lesson I 

Our Bodies in Which We Live 

Our bodies are the houses in which we live. They 
are not like real houses because real houses can 
not move about. 

Our bodies can walk and run and do many things. 
They can run about like an automobile. They can 
talk like a phonograph. 

They are really more like machines than they are 
like houses. So let us call our bodies the machines 
in which we live. 

Because we have these body-machines we can do 
many things. We can come to school. We can skate 
and play games. If our body-machine becomes 
broken, we can not do things so well. If it gets 
very badly broken we can not use it at all. 

If our body gets an arm cut off, then we can not 
play baseball. If a leg is cut off, we can not run. 

If our body gets sick, then we can not come to 
school and we can not run or play but we have to 


2 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


stay in bed until the body-machine gets so that it 
will work all right again. 

Our body-machines have not only legs and arms 
with which we do things, but they have also parts 
inside which we can not see. 

The part with which we breathe is called our 
lungs. Then we have a heart. The heart is a pump 
which keeps the blood moving through all parts of 
the body-machine. 

We have all felt our hearts beat hard after we have 
been running. Sometimes our heart gets injured 
so that it does not work well. Then we have what 

A 

is called heart disease. 

Our bodies have other parts too. They have 
eyes by which we see, and ears so that we can hear 
people talk. If our eyes are injured, then we can 
not see very well and perhaps not at all. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. What are our bodies like? 

2. Why are they like houses? 

3 . Why are they like machines? 

4. What parts do our bodies have? 

5 . What do our hearts do? 

6. What do our lungs do? 

7. What do our legs let us do? 

8. Can our legs get broken? 

9. Have you ever seen a person who had one of his 
legs cut off? Could he run as well as you? 


3 


OUR BODIES IN WHICH WE LIVE 



Play is Good for Children 


10. How do people get their legs cut off? 

11. If your leg should be cut off, could you get another 
one? 

12. What can you do with your arms and hands? 

13. Do people ever break their arms? How? 

14. Do people ever have their arms cut off? 

15. If a man has an arm cut off, can he get another? 

16. If you had an arm cut off, could you do all the 
things you can do now? 

17. What are your eyes for? 

18. Can your eyes be injured? How? 

19. What do your ears do for you? 

20. Should you keep your body machine from being 
injured? Why? 






























4 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Lesson II 

Why We Want Good Bodies 

We have called our bodies machines because 
with them we can do many things. With them we 
can come to school and get our lessons. If we did 
not have them we could not come to school. 

Our bodies let us run and play games too. They 
let us ride bicycles and help our mothers wash 
dishes and sweep. If our body machines get broken 
or so they will not run well, we can not do these 
things. 

We all want to have good body-machines so that 
we can do these things well. We want bodies with 
good arms to work with, and good legs so that we 
can walk and run. We want good eyes to see things. 
We want good lungs and good hearts so that we will 
be strong. 

If we want good bodies we must take care of those 
we have. If mother’s sewing machine is broken, 
she can buy a new one. But if our body-machine is 
broken or will not run, we can not get a new one. 
So we have to take care to keep the one we have 
strong and well. 

We must not get in the way of street cars or auto¬ 
mobiles, for if we do our bodies may get broken. 
Sickness also makes our bodies so that they can not 


WHY WE WANT GOOD BODIES 5 

do things for us. We must try to keep from getting 
sick. 

If we take good care of our bodies, then we shall 
be able to play and work and get our lessons. We 
shall grow up to be strong men and women. 



Games and Exercise Help to Make Boys Strong 


Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. What do our body-machines let us do? 

2. Could you do these things if your body-machine 
was broken by a street car or automobde? 

3. Why do we want good body-machines? 

4. Why do we want two good legs ? 

5. Why do we want good eyes? 

6. Why do we want good ears? 







































6 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


7. If our body-machines are injured or broken can 
we get new ones? 

8. Should we take good care of our body-machines? 
Why? 

9. What does sickness do to our bodies? 

10. What can we do to make our body-machines good 
ones ? 



Boys Like to Play Ball 


1 







THE BEST KIND OF A BODY TO HAVE 7 


Lesson III 

The Best Kind of a Body to Have 

What kind of bodies do we want? We must live 
in our bodies. We can not get new ones. We must 
keep those we have as long as we live. 

Each boy and girl can have only one body-ma¬ 
chine. If it is broken so that it can not do things, 
the boy or girl has to get along with it just the 
same. 

We want strong bodies that will do the things 
we want to do. We want bodies that will play and 
work and not get too tired. We want bodies that 
can do things well. 

We want bodies with good legs to run with, good 
eyes to see with, good teeth to chew our food. We 
want bodies with good lungs that breathe easily and 
do not make us cough. 

We want good body-machines. We want the very 
best we can get. 

If we want good bodies, we can have them. We 
can make our bodies better by taking good care of 
them. We can make them stronger by work and 
play. 

If we use them as we should, our body-machines 
will grow stronger and better. 


8 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 



A large City Play Ground 

Here the teachers help with the play. 


Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. How long do you wear a pair of shoes? 

2. When your shoes wear out what do you do? 

3. How long must you use your body-machine? 

4. If your body-machine is injured can you get a new 
one? 

5. Do work and play make the body-machine wear 
out ? 

6. What do work and play do for the body-machine? 

7. How can we have good body-machines? 












WORK AND PLAY MAKE BODIES STRONG 9 


Lesson IV 

Work and Play Make our Bodies Strong 

Most machines wear out when they are used. 
The more a sewing machine or an automobile is 
used, the faster it wears out. But our bodies are 
different. The more we use our bodies the stronger 
they get if we give them the right kind of food and 
plenty of rest. 

If we walk a good deal, our legs become strong so 
that we can walk farther and farther. If we run a 
little every day, our bodies get so that we can run 
better. Our body-machines are made stronger by 
doing things. 

If we do not use our bodies, they grow weak. If 
we do not walk, our legs get so that we can not walk. 
If we did not run at all, we would soon get so that 
we could not run. 

Our body-machines do best the things we have 
them do most. When we play we are teaching our 
bodies to do things. We may not think of it that 
way, but it is so. 

When we work we are teaching our bodies to do 
things too. The little girl who helps her mother 
wash dishes, is teaching her hands how to hold the 
dishes and not let them drop. 


IO 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Our body-machines do not wear out. The more 
we use them, the better and stronger they grow. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. Does a sewing machine or automobile wear out? 

2. What makes them wear out? 

3. Does using our body-machines make them wear 
out ? 

4. What does using our body-machines do for our 
bodies ? 

5. If we walk and run a great deal what does it do for 
our body-machines? 

6. If we were to do no walking or running what would 
happen to our legs? 

7. What do our body-machines do best? 

8. How do we teach our body-machines to do things? 


THE CARE OF OUR BODIES 


ii 


Lesson V 

The Care of Our Bodies 

Our bodies must be well taken care of just like any 
other machine. We need to keep them clean. We 
ought not to let dirt and dust stay on them. 

Then too our bodies need food just as railroad 
engines need coal and as automobiles need gasoline 
and oil. The food we eat gives us strength to do 
things. It is just like the coal which the fireman 
shovels into the railroad engine. The coal burns 
and helps make steam and the steam makes the 
engine go. 

Our food burns up in us. It does not get hot like 
the coal, but it burns up and gives us strength to 
do things. 

To keep our body-machines from getting out of 
order we must give them things to do. We must 
give them some work and some play each day. 
Sometimes we call this exercise. You have heard 
people say they must get some exercise. Well, they 
just meant their bodies needed some work to do so 
that they would not get out of order. 

Many machines can keep on running until they 
wear out. Our bodies will not do this. We have to 
rest our bodies every day. We call this sleep. When 
we sleep our bodies are resting. 


12 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 



Playing on a Farm 

Children who live in the country can play in the fields. 


Our bodies are much more important to us than 
other machines are, and we should take good care 
of them. 




THE CARE OF OUR BODIES 


13 


Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. Should a sewing machine be kept clean? 

2. Should an automobile be kept clean? Why? 

3. Should our body-machine be kept clean? 

4. What do automobiles need to make them run? 

5. What makes a railway locomotive run? 

6. What becomes of the coal the fireman shovels 
into the furnace of the locomotive? 

7. From what do our body-machines get strength to 
do things? 

8. Why is our food like the coal burned in the loco¬ 
motive ? 

9. What do our body-machines need besides food? 

10. What do we mean by exercise? 

11. What do work and play do for our bodies? 

12. What is sleep? 

13. Why do we sleep ? 

14. What machine should we take the best care of? 


H 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Le SSON VI 

The Food We Eat 

Most people eat three times a day. Some people 
eat more often than that. Why do we eat so often? 
Some boys and girls think we do it because we like 
to eat. 

The real reason we eat is to feed our bodies. If 

V 

our bodies are going to work and play, we must give 
them food. The food we eat gives our bodies strength 
so that we can walk and run and play games. If we 
did not give our bodies food, they would get weak. 

Some of the food we eat makes muscle and makes 
our arms and legs bigger. Some of the food makes 
blood. Some of the food nourishes our teeth so 
that they grow and become strong. In this way our 
food makes us grow. 

If boys and girls did not feed their bodies, they 
would not grow into men and women. 

Some of the food we eat is burned up in our bodies 
and keeps us warm. So you see that we do not eat 
just because we like to. 

We really eat to feed our bodies so that they will 
grow and be strong. Some boys and girls do not 
know this and never think of what their bodies need 
when they eat. They just eat anything they happen 


THE FOOD WE EAT 


I 



Marjorie Drinks Plenty of Milk Every Day 

to like, and do not try to eat the food their bodies 
need. 

Some children eat a lot of candy and a lot of cake. 
They do not know that a little candy and a little 
cake are all right, but that a lot of candy or cake is 
not good for the body. If they eat a lot of candy and 


1 o 




16 PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 

cake they can not eat the kind of food their bodies 
need. 

Milk, bread, eggs, and vegetables are the kinds 
of food our bodies need most. These are the kinds 
that make our bodies grow and become strong. 
Fruit is good too. And we may eat some meat if 
we like it, but we should not eat too much meat. 

Some children are always eating candy or cake or 
something. It is not good for us to be eating all the 
time. When we eat food it goes into our stomachs 
and our stomachs take care of it. If we eat all the 
time, we keep our stomachs working all the time. 
Our stomachs like to rest. They like to have us give 
them a meal and then not eat anything more until 
they have had time to take care of the food we ate. 
When the stomach is trying to take care of one meal, 
it does not like to have us give it more food to take 
care of. 

Boys and girls who want to be strong and grow 
will try to eat the kinds of food their bodies need. 
All of us want to be strong and grow. 


Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. How many times a clay do you eat? 

2. What would happen if you did not eat? 

3. Why do you eat? 

4. What becomes of the food you eat? 

5. What are your muscles made of? 



THE FOOD WE EAT 


17 



In many City Schools the Children Have Milk for Lunch 


6. What is your blood made of? 

7. What makes us grow? 

8. What keeps our bodies warm? 

9. Are some foods better for us than others? 

10. What foods do our bodies need most? 

11. What foods are not very good for us? 

12. Should we eat all the time? 

13. Do our stomachs need rest? 

14. Should every one want to be strong and healthy? 
Why? 




















18 PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Lesson VII 

Why We Should Take Good Care of our Teeth 

We have teeth to chew our food. If we had no 
teeth, we would have to eat soft food, unless we 
swallowed it in pieces as some animals do. 

If we do not take good care of our teeth, they get 
holes in them. Then they ache and hurt. If they 
get very big holes in them we may have to have them 
pulled out. If we bite hard things like nuts with our 
teeth they may break. 

We all want to have good teeth. We can chew our 
food better with good teeth that are not broken or 
full of holes. Then, too, good teeth, especially if 
they are nice and white, look so much better than 
teeth with holes. 

If we eat the right kinds of food and keep our teeth 
clean, they will not get holes in them. If food gets in 
between our teeth and stays there it spoils and turns 
sour just like milk that is left out of the ice box. 
When this food turns sour it makes holes in the teeth. 

One way to help keep our teeth from getting holes 
in them is to keep them clean. If we clean away the 
food from our teeth after each meal they are not 
likely to get holes. 

The best way to clean the teeth is with a tooth- 



WE SHOULD 'LAKE CARE OF OUR TEETH 19 


Marjorie Cleans her Teeth after Each Meal 

brush. This brushes away all the little pieces of 
food left between our teeth after we have been 
eating. We should brush our teeth at least twice a 
day, but it is better to brush them after each meal. 

If a tooth gets a hole in it, it should be filled by a 
dentist. If the hole is not filled, it will keep getting 






20 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


larger and larger until the tooth breaks to pieces. 
Holes in teeth make them ache and hurt. 

When we are little boys and girls we get our first 
teeth. Sometimes these first teeth are called our 
baby teeth, because we begin to get them while we 
are still babies. After we go to school these first 
teeth come out and we get our second teeth. These 
are all we can ever have. 

If we break or lose our second teeth, we can not 
get any more real teeth. We can get teeth made out 
of china like the dishes we eat from at meals, but 
these are not nearly so good as our own real teeth. 

Our teeth are an important part of our body-ma¬ 
chine and we must take good care of them. We 
must keep them clean so they will not get holes. 
We must not bite hard things like nuts or nails, for 
if we do we may break our teeth. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. What are your teeth for? 

2. If you had no teeth could you eat all the things 
you do? 

3. Can your teeth get broken? How? 

4. Do people’s teeth ever ache? Why? 

5. What makes holes in teeth? 

6. If you get a hole in a tooth, what should be done 
for it? 

7. Do holes in teeth keep getting larger and larger? 

8. What will keep a hole from getting larger? 


WE SHOULD TAKE CARE OF OUR TEETH 21 



In many Schools the Children have Toothbrush Drill 


9. Would you rather have white teeth or brown ones? 

10. What makes teeth brown? 

11. Which do you think look better, bright white 
teeth or dark colored broken teeth? 

12. How can we keep our teeth bright and white? 

13. Do you use a toothbrush? 

14. How often do you use it? 

15. Do you know how to use it? 

16. How many sets of teeth do people have? 

17. Do you know what they are called? 

18. Why are our first teeth called baby teeth? 

19. How long do we keep our baby teeth? 

20. Do you want good teeth? Why? 





22 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Lesson VIII 

Our Eyes, the Windows of our Bodies 

Our eyes are the windows of our bodies. We look 
through them and see everything. We see the 
trees. We see the houses and we see each other. 
We can read our lessons because we can see. We 
could not be reading this lesson now if we had no 
eyes to look out of. 

We want always to have good eyes so that we can 
read and see everything. We should take good care 
of our eyes and not do things that will hurt them. 
We should not let children throw sand and dirt 
into our eyes, and we should not throw dirt into 
theirs. 

When we read we ought not to have a window in 
front of us. The window should be behind us, so 
that the light will fall upon our book and not shine 
into our eyes and hurt them. We should not try to 
read things on the blackboard when we are too far 
away to see well. 

If we are reading after dark, the lamp should be 
behind us so that the light shines over our left 
shoulder on our book. If the lamp is on a table in 
front of us, it should have a shade so that the light 
will not shine into our eyes and thus make them 
hurt. 


OUR EYES, THE WINDOWS OF OUR BODIES 23 



Our Eyes are our Windows 


We should not read or sew when there is not enough 
light. When it begins to get dark we should stop 
reading or sewing until the lights are lighted. 

Some children can not see very well with their eyes. 
They should have their parents get them glasses so 
they can see well. It will be easier for them to get 
their lessons then, and their eyes will not get so 
tired. 

We can have only one pair of eyes. If they are 



24 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


hurt or worn out, we can not get new ones. So we 
must take good care of them. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. What do you use your eyes for? 

2. In what way do they help you do things? 

3. Why are our eyes called the windows of our 
bodies ? 

4. Do the windows of houses become broken? 

5. Can our eyes become injured? 

6. What happens if your eyes are injured? 

7. Is it good for the eyes to let a bright light shine 
into them? 

8. Where should the lamp be when you are reading 
at night? 

9. When you are reading during the day should you 
face a window? Why not? 

10. Can all people see well? 

11. If a person can not see well what can he do to 
help him to see better? 

12. If your eyes get injured can you get new ones? 

13. What can one do to keep his eyes healthy and 
strong? 


THE AIR WE BREATHE 


25 


Lesson IX 

The Air We Breathe: Why We Need Good Lungs 

We have to feed our bodies food so that they 
will be able to do things. We also must give our 
bodies water. But there is another thing we give 
our bodies that is more important than either food 
or water. 

We can go without food for several weeks and still 
live. We can go without water for a few days. But 
we can not go without air at all. We must have 
air all the time. 

We feed our bodies air when we breathe. We take 
food and water into our stomachs, but we take air 
into our lungs. 

Some time ago in a lesson we spoke about our 
lungs. We said they were inside of our bodies 
and that we used them to breathe. Our lungs are 
in the upper part of our bodies, in the part we call 
the chest. 

If we have good lungs, our bodies can have all the 
air we need. And if we live all day and all night 
where there is plenty of good air, our bodies will 
grow and be strong. 

Filling our lungs with good fresh air makes them 
strong, and when they are strong they can breathe 
easily. 


26 


PRIMER OF "PERSONAL HYGIENE 


We all want good lungs. We can not have good 

bodies unless we have good lungs and get all the air 

/ 

we need. It would not make us strong to eat three 
meals of good food each day if we did not also get 
all the air we needed. 

We can make our lungs bigger and stronger by 
taking deep breaths. We can do this by taking 
a few deep breaths several times a day. In tak¬ 
ing deep breaths we should stand straight and 
breathe in each breath until our chest sticks out. 
If we do this several times a day, it will make our 
lungs strong. We want good lungs. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. What things does your body have to have besides 
food ? 

2. How long could you get along without food? 

3. How long could you get along without water? 

4. How long could you get along without air? 

5. How does your body get air? 

6. How often do you breathe? 

7. Where in the body does the food you eat go? 

8. Where in the body does the air you breathe go? 

9. Where are your lungs? 

10. Can you make your lungs bigger and stronger? 
How? 

11. How should you stand when you breathe deeply 
and fill your lungs with air? 

12. Is it better for the body-machine to breathe cool 
air or warm air? 


THE AIR WE BREATHE 27 

13. Is clean air or dusty air better to breathe? 

14. Have you ever slept outdoors? Where? 

15. Do you like sleeping outdoors? Why? 

16. How many of you ever slept on a porch? How 
many of you like it? 



This Girl Does not Know that 
she Should Breathe through her 
Nose, and not through her 
Mouth 






28 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Lesson X 

We Should Keep our Bodies Clean 

Our skin is the covering of our body. It looks 
smooth and even. It is really filled with little holes. 
You know how we perspire in warm weather. Well, 
the perspiration comes through some of these little 
holes in the skin. 

We really perspire a little bit all the time. But 
there is so little we can not usually see it. In warm 
weather, or when we have been running, there is a 
lot of perspiration, and then we see it. 

We must not let these little holes in the skin get 
filled up with dirt. If they should all be filled up so 
that no perspiration could come out, we would 
become sick. We must keep our skin clean. 

We wash our hands several times a day because 
they get dirt on them we can see, — mud and such 
things. A little bit of dirt gets all over our bodies, 
although we can not see it. Some of this dirt comes 
from our clothes and some comes from the perspira¬ 
tion which keeps coming out on our skin. For this 
reason we must wash our bodies all over. This is 
what we do when we take a bath. 

It is best for our bodies to wash them all over 
every day if we can. We should never wash them 
less than two or three times a week. After we bathe 


KEEPING OUR BODIES CLEAN 


29 



Where City Boys Learn to Swim 


our bodies we rub them with a towel. This rubbing 
of the whole body with a towel is also good for our 
skin and helps keep it in good condition. 

In washing our bodies we should not forget our 
heads and hair. The skin under the hair needs to 
be washed the same as any other part of the body. 
Of course girls with long hair can not wash their 
heads every day, but they should wash them some¬ 
times and not let them get dirty. 

Our hands get dirtier than any other part of our 
body. We should always wash our hands before 
eating. If we do not, we will get dirt on our food 
from our hands. We do not want to eat the dirt, 
because some kinds of dirt will make our bodies sick. 







30 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. What is the skin ? 

2. What part of the body-machine does it cover? 

3. What does it look like? 

4. What is perspiration? Where does it come from? 

5. When do you perspire most? 

6. Is there any time when you do not perspire at all? 

7. What would happen to us if we stopped per¬ 
spiring entirely? 

8. Should you keep your skin clean? Why? 

9. How often should we wash the skin all over our 
bodies ? 

10. Does it do any good to rub the skin with a rough 
towel after taking a bath? 

11. Why should one wash one’s hair? 

12. When should you wash your hands? 


WHY WE SLEEP 


31 


Lesson XI 

Why We Sleep 

During the day we work and play. At night we 
sleep. When we sleep our bodies are resting. When 
we work or play our bodies get tired. After we sleep 
they are not tired any more, but are ready to work 
and play again. Our bodies not only rest when we 
sleep but it is then that they grow most. 

Boys and girls who are growing need plenty of 
sleep. If they do not get enough sleep they will be 
tired all the time, and may be cross. Children who 
are cross are usually tired and need more sleep. 

We can always get our lessons better when we 
have had plenty of sleep. We feel better too. Boys 
and girls eight and nine years old should get ten 
hours of sleep every night. 

We know that our bodies need plenty of air to 
breathe when we are awake. They also need plenty 
of air to breathe when we are asleep. If we do not 
get enough air when we sleep, the sleep will not 
rest us and we will wake up in the morning feeling 
tired. 

When we sleep we should not cover up our heads 
with blankets or coverings. If we do, our lungs will 
not get enough air. When we go to bed at night we 
should open the windows of our bedroom so that 


32 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


plenty of air will come in and we will have cool air 
to breathe. Cool air is much better for us than warm 
air. 

Boys and girls who want to get their lessons well 
must get plenty of sleep. Boys and girls who want 
to grow and be strong must also get lots of sleep. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. What do you do at night? 

2. When you sleep what does your body-machine do? 

3. Why does your body-machine need to rest? 

4. What makes the body-machine tired? 

5. When we sleep vhat do our bodies do besides rest? 

6. Do growing boys and girls need more sleep than 
men and women? 

7. How many hours’ sleep should you have every 
night ? 

8. How do you feel when you do not get enough 
sleep ? 

9. When you have not had enough sleep at night can 
you do as good work at school next day? 

xo. What kind of air do you need when you sleep? 

11. Do you open the windows of your bedroom when 
you go to bed at night? 

12. Do you like it better with the windows open or 
shut ? 

13. Do you cover your head when you sleep? Why 
should this not be done? 

14. Will boys and girls grow well if they do not get 
enough sleep? 


BEING CAREFUL HOW WE SIT OR STAND 


33 



Marjorie Knows How to Stand 


Lesson XII 

Why We Should Be Careful How We Stand and Sit 

We have learned how the body needs air all the 
time. It needs air even more than it needs food and 
water. AVe know how the air is breathed into our 
lungs. We want to do everything that will help 
us breathe easily so that our lungs will take in all the 
air our bodies need. What can we do to help our 
lungs get enough air? 





34 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


If we stand straight and keep our shoulders back, 
we can breathe more easily and our lungs will get 
more air. If we let our shoulders bend forward, they 
crowd against our chests, and our lungs can not 
take in the air so easily. 

When we walk we should keep our heads up 
straight and our shoulders back. This gives our 
lungs enough room so that they can breathe. Then, 
too, it makes us look much better. 

We have all seen people who let their heads and 
shoulders bend forward. They do not look very 
well, and their lungs can not breathe easily. 

We must sit straight, too, or our necks and 
shoulders will keep our lungs from getting all the air 
they need. Some children always sit straight. 
Some children never do. Perhaps the children who 
do not sit straight have never been told about 
their lungs and how important it is to breathe a 
great deal of air. 

It is sometimes hard to sit straight if we are sitting 
on a chair that is too high for us. If our chair is too 
high, our feet do not rest on the floor. It is almost 
as bad if our chair is too low, for then our legs are 
bent up. 

Our chairs should be just high enough so that our 
feet rest easily on the floor. Our heels should reach 
the floor as well as our toes. Then it is easy to sit 
straight. 


BEING CAREFUL HOW WE SIT OR STAND 


35 


Marjorie Wants to Grow Tall and Straight 

If we want to sit straight when we are studying, 
our desk must be high enough so that we will not 
have to bend forward too much. But it must not 
be too high, for then our book will be too near our 
eyes and hurt them. If our desk is just high enough, 
it helps both our eyes and our lungs. It lets our 






PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


36 

eyes read easily and lets us sit straight so that our 
lungs can get all the air they need. 

If we want to look well and breathe easily, we 
must stand straight with our heads up and our 
shoulders back. We must also sit straight. We 
all want to look well and our lungs need to breathe 
lots of air. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. What happens when you let your shoulders droop 
forward and crowd your chest? 

2. What do you do when you breathe? Show how 
you take a deep breath. 

3. Is it easier to breathe when you stand straight? 
Why? 

4. How should you hold your head and shoulders 
when you walk? Why? 

5. How should you sit? Why? 

6. In sitting, how high should your chair be? Where 
should the feet be? 

7. In school, how high should one’s desk be? Why? 

8. How does the height of your seat and of your desk 
help your eyes and your lungs? 

9. When is a seat too high? When is it too low? 

10. When does a seat or chair fit just right? 


HOW WE GET SOME DISEASES 


37 


Lesson XIII 
How We Get Some Diseases 

Most diseases boys and girls have are caused by 
microbes. Microbes are also called germs. You 
probably know of them by the name of germs. 
Most germs are little plants, so small that we can 
not see them unless we look at them through a 
powerful microscope. They are like weeds. They 
get into our bodies and grow there and make us 
sick. Measles and scarlet fever and mumps are 
caused by germs. 

A child who has measles has a lot of measles 
germs growing in him. A child who has scarlet fever 
has a lot of scarlet fever germs growing in him. A 
child with mumps has mumps germs. 

If a child with measles coughs or sneezes, he 
scatters measles germs all about him. The germs 
are so small we can not see them. If we are near 
him, he may scatter the germs over us and we may 
get the germs into our mouths and noses. If we do, 
we will have measles and get sick too, unless we have 
had measles before. When our body has once had 
measles it is not likely to get it again. 

We get scarlet fever and mumps and many other 
diseases in the same way. So we should keep away 
from children who have these diseases. When we 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


38 

get any of these diseases we should keep away from 
other children or we may give them the diseases 
and make them sick. 

When we have these diseases we should not come 
to school or we will give them to the other children. 
These diseases are often spread by children coming 
to school when they are sick. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. What is a microbe? 

2. Are microbes and germs the same? 

3. How small are germs? Do they live and grow? 

4. How can people see them? 

5. What is a microscope? Did you ever see one? 

6. Are there many different kinds of germs? 

7. What causes measles? Scarlet fever? Mumps? 

8. If a person has measles, what kind of germs does 
he have in his body? 

9. If a person has scarlet fever, what kind of germs 
does he have in his body? 

10. When a person with measles or scarlet fever 
coughs or sneezes, what does he do? 

11. If he scatters germs of measles or scarlet fever on 
you, what may happen? 

12. Should you go near children with measles or 
scarlet fever or mumps or diphtheria? Why not? 

13. Should one with measles or scarlet fever go to 
school or to Sunday school? Why not? 


COUGHS AND COLDS 


39 


Lesson XIV 

Coughs and Colds 

We have learned how measles and other diseases 
are caused by germs so small we can not see them. 
Coughs and colds are caused by germs too. If one 
child has a cold, and coughs or sneezes on the boys 
and girls about him, they may get the cold from him. 
They often do. 

If a child has a cold, his nose and mouth are 
filled with the cold germs. When he coughs or 
sneezes, he scatters the germs all about him. 

One who has a cold ought to be very careful or he 
may give it to the other children. Nobody wants 
to do that. Nobody wants to give colds to others 
and make them sick. 

We are not likely to give colds to others if we are 
careful. When we have a cold we should not spread 
germs all about us. If we have to cough, we should 
cover our mouths with our handkerchiefs. Then 
the germs will fall into our handkerchiefs and not 
be spread about. 

If we have to sneeze, we should also cover our 
mouth and nose with our handkerchief and catch all 
the germs so they will not get on other people. If 
our cold is a bad one, we may have to carry two or 
three handkerchiefs in our pockets. 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 



Marjorie has a Cold and is Catching a Sneeze 
in her Handkerchief 

If the cold is very bad, it would be far better 
if we stayed at home and did not come to school. 
Then we would be sure not to give it to the other 
children. 

If one takes colds often it must be because his 









COUGHS AND COLDS 


4i 


body-machine is not in good condition. Some¬ 
thing must be wrong with his body-machine or 
perhaps with the way he lives. Germs do not give 
us colds so often if our body-machines are strong 
and we have healthy throats and lungs. 

If one lives in a house which is kept too warmly 
heated, he may have many colds. The air in houses 
which are kept too warm is very dry and is not 
good for one’s nose and throat. People who live 
outdoors most of the time seldom have colds. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. Do you ever have colds? 

2. What causes colds? 

3. Can you catch a cold from some one else? 

4. How are colds spread? 

5. If one has a cold, what should he do when he coughs 
or sneezes? Why? 

6. Why do some people have many colds? 

7. Why does being in a room that is too hot make us 
more likely to catch cold ? 

8. Do people who live outdoors most of the time have 
colds as often as people who live indoors? Can you tell 
why ? 


42 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Lesson XV 

Things We Should not Put into Our Mouths 

Have you ever noticed that some people put the 
point of a lead pencil into their mouths before 
using it? They do this to make it write blacker. 

One should not put a pencil into his mouth. 
Other people may have had it in their mouths. 
Somebody with measles or a cold may have had 
it in his mouth and have got measles or cold germs 
all over the end of the pencil. Then if you put 
the pencil into your mouth, you will get the germs 
into your mouth too and may get measles or a 
cold. 

Some children put money into their mouths. We 
should not do this. We do not know who has 
handled the money, and maybe had it in their 
mouths too. They may have been sick people. 
The money may have disease germs on it. 

We should not put things into our mouths. We 
put in food, of course. And when we eat we put 
clean spoons and forks into our mouths. We should 
not put other things into our mouths, such as pen¬ 
cils, money, or marbles. We ought not to put our 
fingers into our mouths either. They are likely not 
to be very clean. 


WHAT WE PUT INTO OUR MOUTHS 


43 

If a boy with a cold had an apple and after eating 
part of it offered you the rest, you would not eat it, 
would you? No, of course not, because you would 
know that the apple was covered with cold germs 
from his mouth. If you ate it you might get a cold 
too. 

It is best never to eat things other children have 
had in their mouths, because we do not always know 
when they have colds or some other germ disease. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. Do you ever put your lead pencil in your mouth? 

2. Do you ever use lead pencils belonging to some 
one else? Do you put them in your mouth too? 

3. What may happen if you put lead pencils into 
your mouth? Why? 

4. Do you ever put money into your mouth? 

5. Do many people handle money? 

6. Do you know who handled the money before you 
got it? 

7. Why should one not put money into one’s mouth? 

8. Do you ever put marbles into your mouth? If 
you do, do you ever think whether some one else did the 
same thing with the marbles before you got them? 

9. Do you put your fingers into your mouth? Do 
you wash them first to be sure they are clean? 

10. Do you put into your mouth whistles belonging 
to some one else? 

11. Why should one not put into one’s mouth things 
which may have been in the mouth of some one else? 


44 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Lesson XVI 

\ 

Why We Should not Drink from Cups and Glasses 

Others Have Used 

Have you ever seen a cup or glass left at a hydrant 
or drinking fountain so that anybody could drink? 
Sometimes they have these cups in stores so that 
peope who are thirsty can drink. 

Sometimes a hundred people will drink from these 
cups in a single day. Whenever anyone drinks he 
leaves a few of the germs from his mouth on the cup 
and it gets all covered with germs from people’s 
mouths. Some of these people may have colds or 
measles or diphtheria, and the cup may be covered 
with these germs. 

Nobody seems ever to wash these cups. They 
may get a little water run on them, but that will 
not clean off the germs. 

We should not drink out of cups and glasses that 
other people have used. It is best to use always a 
clean cup or glass. This is why they keep paper cups 
at some drinking fountains so that anyone who 
wants a drink can have a clean cup. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. Have you ever seen a drinking cup at a public well 
or hydrant? 

2. Have you watched the people drinking out of it? 



DRINK FROM CUPS AND GLASSES 45 


3. Did any of them 
look as though they 
might be sick or have a 
cold ? 

4. What happens 
when many people drink 
from a cup or glass? 

5. Could one catch 
measles or a cold by 
drinking from such a 
cup ? 

6. Do you ever get 

soda water at a drug 

store? Does the man at 

the soda fountain always 

wash the glasses in clean . ^ „ 

. ” , . A Drinking Fountain where Cups 

water? Do they give are not Needed 

you the soda water in 

paper cups so that you can always have a clean cup that 
no one else has used? 

7. Why are paper cups best at drinking fountains? 

8. Do you think that paper cups should be used at 
soda fountains? Why? 

9. Have you drinking fountains in your school where 
you drink from the running water and do not use any 
cup at all? Why is this the best plan of all? 








46 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Lesson XVII 

Good Bodies Help us to be Happy 

If we do not take care of our eyes, we may get 
so that we can not see well. Then we could not 
read very much nor do many things we would like 
to do. 

If we do not take care of our teeth, they get holes 
in them. Then they will ache. If you have ever 
had a tooth ache, you know that you can not be 
happy when a tooth is aching. 

If we do not eat the right kind of food, we may 
have stomach ache. Who could be happy with a 
stomach ache? 

If we do not give our bodies enough sleep, we feel 
tired all the time and are cross. We find fault with 
things and nobody likes us. 

If we want to be able to play ball and swim well, 
we must have good bodies with which to play ball 
and swim. 

If we want to grow to be men and women who can 
do things well, we must take good care of our body- 
machines. 

To be a good farmer one needs a good body. 

To be a good engineer one needs a good body. 

To be a good lawyer one needs a good body. 


GOOD BODIES HELP US TO BE HAPPY 47 

To be a good father one needs a good body. 

To be a good mother one needs a good body. 

Whatever we do in life, we can do it best if we 
have good body-machines. 

Questions and Subjects for Discussion 

1. When you are sick do you feel like playing? 

2. Do you ever have a headache? 

3. Can you get your lessons when you have a head¬ 
ache ? 

4. Did you ever have a tooth ache? Did the tooth 
have a hole in it? Did you have anything done to the 
tooth afterwards? 

5. Could a man who did not have a good body-machine 
do as good work on a farm as one who did have a good one ? 

6. Can a person with a good body-machine run better? 
Can he play better? Can he work better? Why? 

7. How does a good body-machine help us to be happy? 


4 8 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


Le SSON XVIII 

What We Must Do to Have Good Body-machines 

We must get enough sleep, so that our bodies can 
rest and grow. 

We must get enough cool, clean air to breathe, 
both while we are awake and while we are asleep, 
both while at school and while at home. The air 
helps feed our bodies. 

We must feed our bodies the kind of food they 
need. We must feed our bodies the kinds of food 
that will make them strong. We must eat the kinds 
of food that will feed our muscles, our bones, and 
our teeth, and make them strong. We should not 
eat things that make us sick. 

We must give our bodies work to do. We must 
walk and run and play games. We must teach our 
bodies to do things so that our arms and legs and all 
the other parts of our bodies will grow strong. 

We must keep our skins clean. It is fun to take a 
bath every day. We should wash our hands before 
each meal. 

We must always have a good light when we read 
or sew, so that our eyes will not get so we can not 
see well. 

We must clean our teeth at least two times a day 


SOME THINGS THAT WE SHOULD DO 49 

so that they will not get holes in them and have to 
be pulled out. 

We should try to keep from getting germ diseases 
like measles, diphtheria, and colds. 


I 




This too is Play 


Questions and Subjects for Discussion 
Do you want to have a good body-machine? 

What does sleep do for the body? 

How much sleep do you need each night? 

Do you get all the sleep you need ? 

What is it you breathe? 

Where does the air go when you breathe it? 

What does the air you breathe do for your body? 
Why do you eat ? 

What becomes of the food you eat? 

Are all kinds of food good for the body? 


1. 

Why? 

2. 

3 - 

4 - 

5 - 
6 . 

7 * 

8 . 

9 - 

10. 




50 PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 

11. Name some of the foods growing boys and girls 
need ? 

12. Which of these foods do you like best? 

13. Which of them do you have for breakfast? 

14. Which of them do you have for dinner? 

15. What do work and play do for our body machines? 

16. What is the covering of the body called? Does it 
need to be kept clean? 

17. How do we keep our bodies clean? 

18. What are our eyes for? What care do they need? 
Do you ever read when it is getting dark? Does it make 
your eyes hurt? 

19. What are the teeth for? 

20. Do the teeth need to be kept clean? Why? 

21. How often do you clean your teeth? 

22. What causes diseases like measles and diphtheria? 
Can you catch these diseases from other people? Why? 


HEALTH STORIES 

By Belva Cuzzort 


The Vacation of the King of Foods 

(May be made into a play and acted.) 

It is early in the morning. On the farms cows are 
being milked. In the cities bottles of milk have 
been placed outside the doors of millions of homes. 
There is a bright glow in the east. It is the first 
smile of the sun. The sky is a soft blue. It seems 
as a big roof over the earth. 

The voice of Milk is heard: 

“Dear Sky, will you tell me how I may have a 
vacation. I am called King of Foods. Surely a 
King may have rest.” 

The Sky answered: 

“Yes, have all your Fat taken away and then 

people will not use you, and you may have a vaca- 

• >> 
tion. 

So all the Fat was taken from Milk. The next 
morning the cows gave thin blue-white Milk. The 
necks of the Milk bottles that stood outside the 
doors of millions of homes were blue-white. But 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


52 

people would not stop using Milk, for it made 
children grow, even though it had no Fat. 

The voice of Milk spoke again: 

“Dear Sky, I have had no vacation yet. What 
more can I do? I am King of Foods, surely I may 
have rest?” 

The Sky answered: 

“ Have all your Sugar taken from you. Then 
people will stop using you, and you may have the 
vacation due a King.” 

So the Sugar was taken from Milk. Children all 
over the land grew weak, and could not play as 
much as usual. But still the people used it, for, 
though without Sugar or Fat, it could build muscle 
and bone. They beat into it the yolks of eggs to 
give it fat, and poured over it the juices of ripe 
fruits to make it sweet, and made delicious custard 
and puddings. 

A third time the voice of Milk spoke to the Sky: 

“Oh, Sky, Fat and Sugar I have not. Yet there 
is no rest. Strip me of something more, so that I 
will be of no use and can have a vacation worthy of 
a King.” 

The Sky answered: 

“You shall no longer have in you the Body 
Builders. When people find you do not build their 
bodies, they will let you rest.” 

So it was done, and the streams of milk sent into 



THE VACATION OF THE KING OF FOODS 53 

the pails looked like cloudy water, and the necks of 
milk bottles were cloudy. But the milk still had in it 
more lime than other foods have. So long as chil¬ 
dren grow bones and teeth they must have lime. 


U.S. Dept, of Agriculture 

The King of Foods 

A fourth time the voice of Milk spoke to the Sky: 

“Dear Sky, strip me of everything, that I may 
have rest.” 

The Sky answered: 

“Let all the lime be taken from you and you will 
be as clear water. Then people will not use you 
and you may have the vacation due a King.” 

So it happened. Throughout the land the people 










PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


54 

cried out. Everywhere eggs, carrots, cabbage, and 
prunes were looked for to try to get enough lime. 

The farmers milked the clear water into the pails 
and wondered what such milk was good for. The 
necks of milk bottles that stood outside the doors of 
millions of homes looked empty. 

“Now,” said the voice of Milk, “I am of no use 
and can have rest.” 

But it could not. People kept using it though it 
looked like water. 

The Sky said: 

“There is still something in you that makes 
children grow, and keeps their bodies in better 
working order. This can not be taken from you, 
but if you will be boiled, very, very hard, it will be 
destroyed.” 

So Milk was boiled very hard. 

Then no one wanted to use it. It seemed dead. 
It rested, but had no fun, for there was not enough 
life in it. It was not like a King. It saw that 
children were pale and thin and not growing, and 
that mothers had to work far into the night trying 
to find foods to take its place. They failed and 
went to bed weary, hoping that on the morrow the 
children would play and be happy again. 

So Milk stopped resting and became its old self 
once more. Early one morning milk bottles were 
again placed outside the doors of millions of homes, 


THE VACATION OF THE KING OF FOODS 55 

and their necks were a rich cream because Fat and 
Sugar had returned. Farmers milked thick streams 
into their pails, and the Body Builders played and 
made the Milk foam so that it looked like soft clouds 



U.S. Dept, of Agriculture 

On the Farms Cows were being Milked 


that are sometimes along the edge of the western 
sky at sunset. Children drank it and grew strong 
again and played happily. Their mothers rested 
and were glad. 

The Sky smiled. 

Such is the story of the Vacation of the King of 
Foods. 








PRIMER OF- PERSONAL HYGIENE 



Health Story 

What the Garden Earth said to Frank 

4 

Frank had never seen such a wonderful summer 
in all the nine years of his life. Birds were flitting 
among the branches of leafy trees. There were gay 
colored blossoms everywhere with bees visiting 
them. Insects were busy running to and fro over 
clods of dirt. The sky was a deep blue. 

He had never heard so much summer before. 
Birds sang. Grasshoppers chirped. Bees buzzed. 
There were sounds of life everywhere. Everything 
seemed alive and working. 

But he felt even more than he saw and heard. 
His body was warm through and through. He felt 
drowsy. He would not have been surprised if the 
sun rays had lifted him up or if the warm ground 
had raised its breast and breathed. The earth itself 
seemed alive. Underneath the ground the summer 
day had sent its heat. 

In the great vegetable garden where Frank was 
standing the dirt seemed alive. It was soft and 
warm. In its warmth, Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, 
Beets, Beans, Lettuce, and Spinach were growing. 
They reached out and took food from it, each after 
its own kind. The Beet chose its kind, the Lettuce 


WHAT THE GARDEN EARTH SAID 


57 



U.S. Dept, of Agriculture 

A Garden in Summer 


its own, and so each of the others found the foods 
that suited it best. 

Garden Earth is alive, too, he thought, and 
wondered if he should stand on it. He lifted one 
foot and touched the soft warm fine earth gently. 
His foot wanted to sink into it. He thought that 
would hurt the garden, and began to walk out on 
tiptoe. 

“ You can not hurt me,” said a low voice. 

Frank stood still and listened. 






PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


58 

The sound came from the ground. 

Garden Earth was speaking to him. 

“How’s that?” said Frank. 

“How’s what?” said Garden Earth. 

“Why doesn’t it hurt you for me to stand on 
you? 

“Because you have in you the same things that 
I have.” 

“What!” said Frank in surprise, “I don’t have 
earth in me.” 

“You have part of me in you, ” said Garden Earth, 
and it laughed. 

The sound came from all over the garden. 

“I do not understand that,” said Frank. 

“That is because you do not know what I am 
like, ” explained Garden Earth. 

“I do,” said Frank. “You are brown, almost 
black, and soft and warm and crumbly. And I am 
not crumbly!” 

“Are you not soft and warm?” asked Garden 
Earth. 

“Yes,” said Frank, “only — ” 

But Garden Earth laughed again and he stopped 
speaking. 

“The darker I am,” said Garden Earth, “the 
better I store sunshine. The sun’s heat that I store 
goes into potatoes, turnips and beans, and in winter 
when you eat them you are made warm.” 



WHAT THE GARDEN EARTH SAID 


59 

“Yes, we are both warm,” said Frank. “That is 
why I thought you were alive.” 

“I didn’t know you gave me warmth in that way,” 
Frank added thoughtfully. 

“And you might be just as crumbly as I,” said 
Garden Earth. 

“How is that?” said Frank. 

“Because the crumbly part of you is packed to¬ 
gether and hardened,” said Garden Earth. 

“Oh! do you mean my bones?” asked Frank. 

“Yes, and your teeth,” replied Garden Earth. 
“You think I am brown and dark, but I have in 
me that which if packed together would harden into 
white rock. I give it to carrots, cabbage, and lettuce, 
and it helps make your teeth and bones.” 

“I did not know we were so much alike!” ex¬ 
claimed Frank. 

“We do not look alike,” said Garden Earth 
laughingly. The voice was so friendly that Frank 
felt much at ease. 

“You call me dirt,” said Garden Earth, “yet it is 
what I have in me that keeps the inside of your 
body clean.” 

“How could the inside of my body be anything 
but clean?” asked Frank. 

“ Oh, do you not know people who have unclean 
bodies inside ?” 

“How can I tell?” said Frank. 


6o 


PRIMER OF PERSONAL HYGIENE 


“How does the inside of one's body get unclean?" 
he asked promptly. 

“Now that is a good question," said Garden 
Earth. “Your body works. Wherever there is 
work there is waste that has to be cleaned out." 

“I know that," said Frank. 

“When you eat cabbage, lettuce, beets, carrots, 
and other vegetables they make you think of having 
the wastes leave your body. If you obey — though 
some children do not — you keep your body clean." 

“So I am like you," said Frank. “You send me 
warmth. You build my bones. You help keep my 
body clean on the inside." 

“I do more than that," said Garden Earth. “I 
put things into your body, liquids that keep them as 
they should be. I put iron into your blood." 

“ I did not know your vegetables did so much for 
me," said Frank, and he patted the dirt with his foot. 

“Yes," answered Garden Earth, “and there are 
children who will not eat my vegetables and take 
what I have to give." 

“I am glad I am like you," said Frank. “Can I 
not do something for you?" 

“You do now. You eat the vegetables I grow. 
If you did not, then they would not be planted and 
I should be full of weeds. Garden Earth I am, 
and it is my business to give you what I have for 
your body." 




WHAT THE GARDEN EARTH SAID 


61 



U.S. Dept, of Agriculture 

Vegetables Grown in Garden Earth 

Then Garden Earth spoke no more. It stopped 
to save all its strength for the plants growing in it. 

Frank listened, then tiptoed out of the Garden, 
for he still felt he should not crush the soft earth. 
When he went indoors and told his mother what had 
happened, she said that Summer had made him 
dream while he was awake. 

“Then isn’t it so, Mother?” the boy asked. 

“Oh, yes,” said his mother, “it is all true.” 

Frank smiled. He was content to know that and 
in a moment fell fast asleep on the couch. 




































































































































